Dr. Paul Connolly:

Deputy McConalogue asked about fish stocks and trends. We are now at a critical part of the year and all the results of the science are coming together. There are good news stories about stocks and bad news stories. It is a mixed bag but we are working very closely with the industry, representatives of which we met all day yesterday. We went through the advice for next year's fishing stock by stock. We met environmental non-governmental organisations, NGOs, last week and we are just about to produce our stock book, which the Minister will bring with him to the December Council. He will have the latest scientific advice on all the stocks and we will be highlighting all the key points he needs to make in the negotiations. The stock trends are all outlined in the stock book and we assure the Minister that he will get the best science support at the December Council. We will get back to the committee when the Minister presents the sustainability assessment to this committee in early December. All the science we are undertaking will be finalised and he will present the results of the trends for all stocks to members at that meeting. We will also be here to answer specific questions.